Profile: Andrea De Remes

Andrea De Remes is the Co-Founder and CEO of Erandi Aprende Inc., an EdTech (Education Technology) company dedicated to one purpose: bridging the gender gap in STEM workforce by encouraging young girls to engage in STEM through a STEAM platform.

It’s a lofty goal, one I respect myself despite my wholly non-STEM career choice. To my surprise, I found that Andrea could relate.

Andrea, unlike her Co-Founder and CTO, Miroslava Rodriguez, does not have a STEM background. While like most kids she enjoyed goofy science shows like Beakman’s World and Dexter, she never had a cinematic-kismet moment that would define her passion to be for STEM like one would expect for an EdTech co-founder.

She tells me, laughing, about one of her first forays into hard science. During a period where she was toying with the idea of becoming a biologist, a school assignment firmly shut that door. She was meant to dissect a bovine eye. Everything was going well, she was confident that perhaps this was something she could do, and then they reached the cornea. She cut into the eye, already queasy at the sounds and sensations, and then a spurt of eye-liquid sprayed. Yuck. For 13 year-old Andrea, it became clear that a future in biology wasn’t one she wanted to pursue.

But that wasn’t her only attempt into STEM, or what most people associate with STEM. When she was 16 years-old, Andrea failed her first year of high-school because of Math. She recounts how difficult her social and economics teacher had been, sighing at the memory. In her school, they used a French system, which required students to choose a specialty during their highschool years. After failing her first year due to an unyielding math teacher and her brief foray into biology, she was encouraged to go into a literature and philosophy specialty.

“It was my own decision,” she makes sure to clarify “but my parents were actually really glad.”

Like most kids, Andrea had played with bugs and science kits, imagining herself as a scientist of some sort. Additionally, her family is quite academic. Her father is a quantitative scientist, which means he works largely with statistics and mathematics to create solutions for different spheres of science; and her younger brother is a rocket scientist. “Which is a little cooler than being a CEO,” she  freely admits. 

But only barely, I made sure to assure her.

So why were her parents glad? Because Andrea had a plan and was determined to make something of herself. She tested herself in hard sciences, the ones available to her in highschool, and concluded that it wasn’t for her. That didn’t mean she was going to give up. Now it was time to change her variables, try something new and just as valuable: Art and soft sciences. 

Something that both founders agree on, is that there is more to STEM than the stereotypical sciences. Which is why STEAM is so important to them. STEAM takes a holistic approach to education and makes soft science more accessible.

“When we think of science, we often think about lab coats and test tubes, but there are different sciences that are just as valuable,” Andrea tells me.

After highschool, Andrea went on to get her bachelors in South and SouthEast Asian Studies with a concentration in Anthropology, Economics, and Political Science.

I will admit I was a bit baffled by the jump. How did she go from Literature and Philosophy to studying Anthropology, Economics, and Political Science? What’s the connection?

“People,”

“People,” she tells me emphatically, grinning. She describes herself as a people person, although not in the way most people imagine. People fascinate her and she takes an almost scientific approach to building relationships.

First, she takes stock of what she knows. She observes her settings, the other characters around her, and the inherent expectations of her setting. Then she formulates a hypothesis. From then, she observes them, looking for what disproves her hypothesis and what confirms it. Andrea, like any good scientist, takes her time. She takes her time to get to know people, careful in her observations. Then she reviews her data and formulates an analysis. And finally, the application. Andrea uses her analysis to be the best friend, mentor, peer, and boss she can be.

Her use of the scientific method for building relationships has led to an almost 85% success rate.

But this method isn’t just applied to building relationships. For Andrea, it’s her method for life. It’s how she decided what career path she was going to take. It’s how she’s arrived here: the CEO of a top three EdTech company in Mexico City, on the precipice of releasing Erandi Aprende’s latest product, an Ai-Amiga that helps girls develop their own interest in STEM and create fun STEAM projects.

Like all scientists, Andrea isn’t afraid of risk. In fact, she was the one who approached her co-founder about an opportunity to create something that would have a real impact.

The UNICEF Youth Challenges 2.0, now called ImaGen Ventures, challenged young individuals all around the world to create a company that would solve a social problem. Andrea and Miroslava, two young women more similar than either of them thought, entered the competition and landed on the gender gap in STEM.

That was her kismet moment.

They created a company that would heal the future by starting now, by encouraging young girls now to have an intrinsic love for STEM that would translate into a future in the STEM workforce– however that looked, be it in soft sciences like Anthropology and Political science or in hard sciences like computer engineering and biology.

And they won.

If Andrea hadn’t tested herself with something different, a different kind of science and a different kind of dream, she would have never met Miroslava and Erandi Aprende Inc. wouldn’t exist.

The wonderful thing about kismet, or being a non-STEM folk who believes in kismet, is that everything seems like it has led to this point. It certainly did to me as I listened to Andrea recount her life.

Remember when she mentioned she loves to play with bugs? Well, 8 year-old Andrea was actually observing them and making notes as she played. She was intrigued by her behavior. True to form, rather than become a bug scientist, she turned her observational skills towards helping people and creating solutions. 

And then, when she was 10 years-old she wanted to be a power ranger. “I loved the idea of being able to save the world, and contribute towards having a better place to live in,” she tells me. She had even worked out the steps to becoming a power ranger. Very seriously, she tells me that a power ranger has to “…first, learn how to fight. Second, be kind to others. Third, be in crowded spaces where you can get noticed to be recruited.”

I might argue that Andrea could already be a power ranger. She learned how to fight, becoming a black belt in karate. Her scientific method for relationships assured that she was always kind to others. And her prominence in the EdTech world meant that she was in crowded spaces where she could be recruited.

I asked if her experiment worked, if her steps really were what made a power ranger but she only smiled mysteriously. I suppose we’ll never know. But imagine that, CEO by day, crime fighter by night. It’s the stuff of comic books.

At 15 years-old, like all other angsty teens, Andrea struggled with deciding her future. But that period of uncertainty was important and necessary. It was the beginning of her experiment, the moment where the conclusion was being painted but all the steps to get there seemed invisible.

Because what she understands now, is that life doesn’t stop at 15– it doesn’t stop because of uncertainty.

As I listen to her describe her friends and family, about the people she’s met during her life, and the experiences she’s had, it’s clear that it’s always been about people.

It’s always been about treating everyone with respect and kindness, about giving them opportunities and being the gateway, about being observant, about being an effective communicator. That plays a big role at Erandi Aprende, especially for their upcoming product.

Erandi (the product avatar) , like Andrea, only wants to help the Learners by answering questions, prompting Learners to dig deeper, and giving them opportunities to create their own projects and experiments.

I call kismet– though Andrea or any other scientific-minded person would just call it a synergism. Either way, both I and Andrea understand that it’s all been connected, that every experience and decision has influenced the next and led her to here.

STEM Ally

“Do you consider yourself a STEM person?”

She hummed, taking her time to consider the question.

While Anthropology and Political Science are technically soft sciences, and Economics is a genre of math, her application of those subjects are a little outside the stereotypical applications of STEM and perhaps the source of her hesitation.

“My approach,” she says at last, “is STEM based.”

It’s clear that she views the world carefully, finding connections, and pulling on strings. She appreciates rationality, for communication and actions to be straightforward and accessible. More than anything, she likes to observe. All of this would make her, at the very least, a clinical person or synonymous to a STEM person considering her previous fields of study. But she disagrees. 

“…but no [not a STEM person], more of a STEM Ally.”

I asked her what that meant.

“My brother is a rocket scientist. I am not a rocket scientist. But I like talking with my brother and hearing about his work…I don’t understand it all but I’ve begun reading and watching videos about the subject…we have a good relationship.”

For Andrea, STEM connects her to her friends and family. And her STEM “powers” or characteristics are what help her be the best version of herself.  

Her forays into STEM don’t stop at Erandi or her brother, either. She truly enjoys STEM, though as an observer and not as an active participant.

She enjoys watching videos from CuriosaMente, animated videos about a broad range of topics from Ancient History to Astronomy. One of her favorite novels is a French novel involving a mysterious parcel of mathematical books, a murdered friend, and the universal language of math and fraternity.

So while her role here in Erandi Aprende Inc. is non-STEM, she still has a deep appreciation for what Erandi Aprende is working to achieve.

“I find that it’s a shame that women tend to be a minority in many spaces such as STEM, politics, finance or business. I believe that in the 21st century this is mainly due to perpetual gender roles and being able to create spaces like Erandi Aprende where we can empower girls from an early stage to feel safe and build their confidence is what will make the difference in the long run.”

“If you had the Erandi Aprende app when you were a kid, do you think things would have been different?” I ask her.

“I believe I would have been much more open to explore different avenues in my life regarding science. Who knows, maybe I would have become an engineer like my brother.”

In any case, whether as one part of a rocket science sibling duo or CEO of a EdTech company, I know that there would be some constants in Andrea; like her character. 

Everything has its place. STEM is a part of Andrea; perhaps not in a typical way, but it has shaped her and helped her be the person she is:

Someone who is kind. Someone who is determined and adaptable. Someone who is observant and respectful. Someone who isn’t afraid of trying new things even after failure. Someone who is curious. Someone who is bold.

Someone who could very well possibly be a secret power ranger of the yellow variety (Andrea’s favorite power ranger). 

It was a pleasure to get to know this “someone”, and I wish both her and co-founder, Miroslava, good luck on their upcoming launch. I can’t wait to see how they change the world.  

Erandi Aprende Inc. is launching a new app for girls on Mar. 8th. More information on their website at beta.erandiaprende.com